Top 10 quotes from Oscar Pistorius’ testimony so far

Oscar Pistorius has been on the stand for two dramatic days so far, during which his testimony has twice been adjourned due to his emotional state.

Over the last two days, Oscar Pistoriushas described his childhood, the death of his mother and his loving but sometimes difficult relationship with Reeva Steenkamp. New evidence in his testimony on the night he shot Steenkamp has also revealed discrepancies with the version of events he gave in his bail affidavit last year.

Here are ten defining quotes from his testimony thus far:

“I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Mr and Mrs Steenkamp, to Reeva’s family…There has been no moment since this tragedy happened that I haven’t thought about your family.”

“I smell blood and I wake up to terrified” – Pistorius describes his state of mind in the year since the shooting

“I don’t want anybody touching them… I’m a bit shy about them, a bit embarrassed about them when I don’t have them on.” Pistorius on his prostheses.

“Everyone in South Africa at some point has been exposed to crime… My father has been hijacked twice. My brother was in an attempted hijacking…I’ve been followed home late at night. I’ve been shot at on the highway.”

“She (Pistorius’ mother) often got scared at night. We didn’t live in the best of areas. There was a lot of crime. She would call the police, call us to her room and we would wait for the police to arrive.

“That never happened.” Pistorius denying shooting through the sunroof of a car.

“On her birthday on 8 August I opened it. It was a photo frame that she got made with four photos of her and I.” Pistorius on opening his Valentine’s Day present from Steenkamp, whose birthday is in fact on 19 August.

“That’s the moment that everything changed. I thought that there was a burglar that was gaining entry to my home.”

“I heard a noise from inside the toilet which I perceived to be someone inside the toilet. I fired four shots into the door and shouted for Reeva to phone the police.”

“She wasn’t breathing” – on finding Reeva Steenkamp in the bathroom after breaking down the door